For a long time, players had to grind to find a saddle to steer their mounts in Minecraft. It often became a slog, putting a bottleneck on players who were otherwise used to freedom.
Thankfully, that's all changing. Players can finally craft saddles in Minecraft on their own, provided they're playing on the latest Java snapshot or Bedrock beta branch. Players no longer have to waste hours searching through towers and strongholds that they're too low level for just to try and find a saddle.
Keep in mind that players on release versions of Minecraft will have to wait a bit longer to craft saddles, but the method will remain the same. The crafting recipe will be available in the following versions and beyond: JE 1.21.6 & BE 1.21.90.
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How To Unlock The Saddle Recipe In Minecraft
Now, Minecraft could have made it really hard to craft saddles. The developers could have made it so that players had to grind a lot of materials or get their hands on mid- or end-game materials. Thankfully, they didn't take that path.
Before players can start crafting saddles, they're going to need to unlock the recipe. Doing so is simple enough that most players should be able to make a saddle early on in the game. To unlock the recipe, players need to get their hands on some leather. There are two main ways to do this.
The first is to raid the chests in villages. Leather is a pretty common item that spawns in the chests of villages found in grasslands. In some cases, players may even be able to trade for it. The other option is to kill animals. Cows, in particular, drop a good amount of leather. Players can find cows in grassland biomes or prairies, though they are known for sometimes spawning in mountain biomes, too.
To take them down, players only need to craft a basic wooden or stone sword. Even a tool like a pickaxe or an axe can get the job done. Once players pick up leather, the recipe for crafting a saddle in Minecraft will unlock.
How To Craft A Saddle In Minecraft
To craft a saddle in Minecraft, players will need to satisfy a few prerequisites. First, players will need to craft the saddle in a crafting table. It requires more slots than are on the player's crafting menu.
Second, players will need the right materials. The recipe to make a saddle requires the following materials:
- 3 Leather
- 1 Iron Ingot
As mentioned earlier, players can get leather from cows. As for iron ingots, players can trade for one with a villager, particularly a blacksmith, at a village. They can also mine for iron ore, which is a pretty common resource that doesn't require players to dig too deep.
By traveling through some mountains, players may even see iron ore nodes without having to go underground at all.
Once players have made their crafting table and gathered the correct number of resources, they're ready to craft the saddle. Access the crafting table and place one leather material in the following slots:
- Middle Slot of Middle Row
- Left Slot of Bottom Row
- Right Slot of Bottom Row
The middle slot of the bottom row is where the iron ingot goes.
Once players have put all the materials into the correct slots, they'll see the saddle appear in the results slot. Remove the saddle and place it into the player's inventory to claim it.
What Animals Can Wear A Saddle In Minecraft
Now that players have made their saddles, it's time to put them on an animal. There are a number of animals in Minecraft that can wear a saddle, allowing players to ride them.
Keep in mind, however, that most animals need to be tamed before players can put a saddle on them. Horses, for example, require the player to ride them bareback for a period of time before they're tamed. Only then can players finally put a saddle on the horse.
The animals that can wear a saddle include:
- Pig
- Strider
- Horse
- Camel
- Donkey
- Mule
Now that it's easier than ever to get hold of saddles, players should have an easier time exploring the world of Minecraft.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- LWJGL, PROPRIETARY ENGINE
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Minecraft
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical or Horizontal
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- Platform(s)
- 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- How Long To Beat
- 129 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- No
- File Size Xbox Series
- 1.42 GB (August 2024)
